Key Account Manager
Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
Reference #JL-SGL-9935
The Shaw Group is one of Atlantic Canada's most established and diversified family-owned companies, with operations spanning real estate development, construction, manufacturing, and property ownership. With decades of growth and a reputation for building communities across the region, Shaw operates a complex, multi-entity corporate structure and is committed to excellence in both business performance and governance.
The Role
Reporting to the Vice President Sales, the Key Account Manager is the primary point of contact for Shaw's entire Building Supply dealer network across Atlantic Canada, spanning both banner head offices and independent building supply stores. Representing the combined product portfolios of Shaw Brick, Shaw Resources, and Shaw Renewables, this role owns the commercial relationship end to end, from annual contract negotiation through day-to-day execution.
The successful candidate excels at aligning Shaw's corporate and divisional priorities with each customer's own goals, building the mutual trust and shared planning that drive sustainable, profitable growth for both parties.
Duties & Responsibilities:
Relationship Management
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Serve as the single senior point of contact for building supply chain head offices and independent stores, building durable relationships at buyer, category-manager, and executive levels.
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Represent all three divisions cohesively, ensuring dealers experience Shaw as one coordinated partner rather than three separate suppliers.
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Translate Shaw's corporate and divisional strategies into account-level plans that also advance each customer's priorities.
Contract Management
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Lead annual contract negotiations, including terms, rebate/program structures, and volume commitments.
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Own pricing for the channel, recommending, implementing, and defending pricing that protects margin while remaining competitive.
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Conduct regular assortment and line reviews to optimize the product mix carried at each account and identify gaps and growth opportunities
Marketing & Trade Activation
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Plan and execute trade activity, promotions, and dealer programs across the network.
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Manage flyer activation and co-op advertising, coordinating timing, product selection, and pricing with banner and independent partners.
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Work with divisional marketing to bring campaigns, new products, and merchandising support to the channel.
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Coordinate participation in and execution of key trade shows and dealer events, including booth planning, product presentation, and follow-up to convert leads into orders.
Business Development
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Drive profitable growth by expanding distribution within the existing dealer base, increasing the number of Shaw product lines, categories, and SKUs carried at current accounts across all three divisions.
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Identify and pursue whitespace at current dealers, converting single-division relationships into multi-division partnerships and growing share of shelf against competitive products.
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Prospect, qualify, and onboard new building supply stores across Atlantic Canada, building a pipeline of independent stores and banner locations not currently served by Shaw.
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Develop compelling value propositions and business cases to win new accounts, and lead the negotiation, setup, and initial ramp-up of these relationships.
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Track and report on distribution gains, new-account acquisition, and pipeline progress against growth targets.
Planning & Operations
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Develop and maintain demand forecasts by account and product line to support production and inventory planning.
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Provide oversight of logistics and order fulfillment, coordinating with supply chain and operations to ensure on-time, complete delivery and to resolve service issues.
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Monitor account performance against targets, reporting on sales, margin, and program ROI, and adjusting plans as needed.
Qualifications & Experience:
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Post-secondary education in business, sales, marketing, or a related field (or equivalent experience).
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5+ years in key account management, channel/dealer sales, or category management, ideally in building materials, hardware/home improvement, or a related distributed-dealer industry.
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Proven track record negotiating annual contracts and managing pricing in a multi-product or multi-division environment.
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Demonstrated success growing distribution and winning new accounts.
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Strong commercial acumen, with comfort around margins, forecasting, rebate structures, and P&L impact.
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Experience with the Atlantic Canadian dealer landscape (banner groups and independents) is a strong asset.
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Willingness to travel regularly throughout Atlantic Canada.
Core Competencies:
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Relationship building and influence across multiple organizational levels.
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Negotiation and conflict resolution.
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Hunter mentality balanced with account-management discipline.
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Strategic thinking balanced with hands-on execution.
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Cross-functional collaboration with marketing, operations, and supply chain.
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Analytical rigor and comfort with data-driven decision-making.
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Experience leveraging artificial intelligence to improve productivity and data analysis
To express interest in this opportunity please apply online directly by clicking 'Apply Now' below.
If you have any questions, please contact Kate Spares, Recruitment Specialist, at kspares@kbrs.ca or Jeff Lanthier, Partner, at jlanthier@kbrs.ca. If you require accommodation to participate in the recruitment process, please let us know.
Meridia Recruitment Solutions connects leading organizations with top talent by building strong relationships and creating ideal matches with candidates because we are only successful when you are. We appreciate your interest in this opportunity.
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